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With this months favourites I wasn't too sure about posting as i'm also going to be doing a 'Best of 2013' series, where I show you guys my favourite products from different categories during 2013. Having said that, I thought it would be odd not having a favourites for this month so I decided to go ahead.

This month for me has literally flown by and I cannot believe 2013 will be over in just a couple of days, it's crazy! This months favourites consist of all fairly new products, but ones that will be solid staples for quite some time.

First up is the Toni & Guy Glamour Hairspray, I received this my Latest in Beauty Glamour Beauty Edit and i've loved it since. It's a great hairspray, that gives great hold throughout the day without leaving your hair rock hard and this sample size is perfect for throwing in my handbag. Next up is probably my favourite skincare item at the moment and that is Hydraluron. This product is one that I wasn't going to purchase but i'm so happy that I did. It just does a really good job of keeping my skin hydrated and I love it. Moving back to another product I received in the Latest in Beauty Box and that is the HD Brows Foxy Palette, which i'm so happy to have in my life. I've always wanted to order a HD Brows set but never got round to it and i'm so glad that I waited as this palette is great for eyebrows and eyeshadow! Next is a product that i've loved using with the previous product and that is the RT Brow Brush, it's just a really good eyebrow brush and applies product really well to my eyebrows.

Another skincare product next, and that is the Bioderma h20 Micelle Solution which has replaced my L'oreal Miccelar Solution. It works so well to melt away my makeup after a long day, but also leaves my skin feeling really soft and cleansed, even though I do cleanse after using this. Next up is another product that has replaced my previous product and that is the Nuxe Reve de Miel Lipbalm. After endless search I think i've found the lipbalm for me, it works so well to moisturise and hydrate my lips throughout the day like no other.

So that is my last favourites for this year! Keep your eyes peeled for my 'Best of 2013' series, which I think will start after New Year.

This week has been a bit of an odd week, i've been so busy yet it feels like I haven't accomplished anything.. but it has been a fun filled week!

Had a lovely catch up and lunch date with the college girls - It's been a long time since we all met up, so we all met up for a cute little lunch before Christmas and to have a catch up. I opted for a baked carbonara pasta dish, which was bloody lovely!

Painted my nails all festive - After not having my nails painted for a good month now because of work, it only felt right to give my nails that glittery christmasy feel. I used Essie Toggle on Top and Shearling Darling.

Had a lovely Christmas day - As you are all aware on Wednesday the majority of us celebrated Christmas and I had a lovely chilled out day with my family. I'm super appreciative of all the gifts I received. You can see a little more about my Christmas day here.

Headed down to Plymouth - As my Dad lives in Plymouth I always visit around Christmas time. So on Friday I packed my bags and drove down to Plymouth, where I got stuck in every bit of traffic that I possibly could!

Had my first ever Wagamama's - Where I live we don't have a Wagamama's so I was pretty excited when we went for lunch down here in Plymouth. Of course I had the common Katsu Curry, which was bloody tasty and very filling.

Purchased my third MAC lipstick - I decided to treat myself with my Christmas money as i'd had my eye on 'Girl About Town' for quite some time. It's weird how much a lipstick can brighten your mood.

As some of you may know, i'm currently in Plymouth visiting my Dad over the Christmas period. As i'm here for a few days I thought it would be a fun idea to show you guys the makeup & skincare bit's i've brought with me as I couldn't pack every single product, so i've cut it down to the minimum of what I thought I would need for a few days.

STORAGE

As you can see I've managed to squeeze all of my makeup into this makeup bag from Primark, which is actually quite spacious and it even fit's my palettes nicely. For my makeup brushes i've opted for one of the Real Techniques folding things that come with the Real Techniques sets as you can fit quite a lot of brushes in these and they are super handy.

BRUSHES

As for brushes i've opted for the ones that I pretty much on a daily basis. As you can see all of my brushes are Real Techniques as they work best for me and they are really great brushes. The first brush is the Powder Brush, great for dusting over any finishing powder. Next is the Blush Brush, which I use to apply blush, bronzer and contour - great multi purpose brush. Next is the Buffing Brush, great for buffing foundation into the skin. Moving onto eye brushes, i've got the Deluxe Crease Brush and the Base Shadow Brush to create some easy eye looks and the Brow Brush obviously for my brows. The last brush is the Expert Face Brush, which I also use to buff in my foundation.

PALETTES

As for palettes i've kept it pretty safe. It was obvious I was going to pack the Nars One Night Stand Palette, seeing as I use it everyday. It's just a lovely palette! I also decided to take along my new Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette as i'm still in awe over it and all of the shades are perfect to create so many different eye looks.

MAKEUP

As for makeup, i've picked all of the products that I would need to create my daily makeup look. For my primer I chose the Laura Mercier Radiance Primer as it keeps my make up stay in place so well throughout the day. For foundation I opted for my trusty Rimmel Stay Matte which i'm still loving. For an added blusher I chose my Nars Luster as I love this blusher, I couldn't not pack this. As for brows i've been loving the HD Brows 'Foxy' Palette and with the RT Brow Brush my brows have never looked so good! As for eye make up i've packed the obvious options, the Rimmel Soft Kohl Eyeliner, Collection Fast Stroke Liquid Eyeliner and the Collection Multiplier Mascara. Also to go along with eye makeup i've thrown in my eyelash curlers. As for powder I opted for the Rimmel Clear Complexion Powder, which is a great powder in my opinion. Lastly I threw in a lip product, one that'll go with anything and that is the Bourjois Color Boost in Plum Russian.

SKINCARE

Lastly is skincare, now I thought that I had packed a cleanser but it turned out that I haven't, so i'm just going to have to persevere with what i've got. First up is my trusty Nivea Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes, which I use to get the majority of my face makeup off. Next is the L'oreal Gentle Eye Makeup Remover, which I use on my eyes and then all over to remove anything the wipe didn't. Ever since purchasing the Hydraluron my skin has never thanked me so much so of course I was going to pack that. Lastly for moisturiser i've opted for my trusty Origins Ginzing, which I love!!

So those are my makeup and skincare travelling picks. I hope this post has been somewhat helpful and has given you a few tips of what to pack when you're travelling.

P.s - Sorry if the photos are a little crap compared to my usual, the lighting wouldn't play ball.

As promised, today i'm blogging some of the details from Christmas day! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas (if you celebrate it) and that you all had a lovely chilled out day, eating far too much food!

I had a lovely chilled out day with my family and it was lovely to spend our first Christmas in the new house with everyone. I woke up super early, but I eventually pulled myself out of bed around 9ish and helped my mum peel and prep for the dinner. We then opened presents around 10ish and as you can see I got the Naked 3 Palette and the Soap & Glory Yule Monty Set. I will be doing a 'What I Got for Christmas' post, but it will probably be after New Year as i'm still to celebrate Christmas with my Dad.. so I just included those as little sneak peaks of what I got but I am truly grateful for all the super amazing gifts I have received so far.

After the present giving, I got dressed and of course I rocked my gingerbread jumper from Topshop all day. I also gave the Naked 3 Palette a whirl and oh my god, it is beautiful! I can't wait to use it some more. Once the rest of my family arrived we sat down and tucked into our meal. My soup went down a treat and the roast was flippin' lovely, my mum did really good!

Once again, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and I hope you all have a chilled out Boxing Day. I'm not hitting the sales today unfortunately as i'm visiting more family but I sure will be when I head down to Plymouth on Friday!

Just a quick post today, as I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

I hope all of you have a lovely day, whatever it is you're doing and I hope you all get all presents you wanted from Santa. I'm spending the day with my family and i've even chipped into the cooking as i've made the starter, which I will be blogging about over the next few days so keep your eyes peeled for that.

This months Birchbox arrived quite late this month compared to normal, but I was super excited about this months box as it is Christmas I was expecting quite a good box filled with some Christmas goodies.

Now it's safe to say my expectations for this box were way too high as I wasn't overly excited by this months box, reminded me a little bit of the disappointment I would feel with every GlossyBox I received but i'm going to stop with the negativity and try to enjoy using the products in this months box.

This months box is of course based all around Christmas, getting us through the hectic days and prepping us for the fun filled parties. So let's get into the products I received in this months box.

First up is the Number 4 Non Aerosol Hairspray, described to be great for your hair and the environment, leaving your hair with a crunch free hold. Now, even though I didn't have a clue what this product was when I first looked at it, in hindsight it's not that bad sounding and I can't wait to give this a test run. The next product is another that looked rather odd and that is the Jane Irelade Cheek & Lip Stain. This has got to be the tiniest lip product i've ever laid eyes on, but it will come in so handy on nights out to just throw in my bag. Keeping with makeup, the next product is the Alima Pure Luminous Shimmer Eyeshadow which if you can't see is in this lovely bronzey gold shade. I think i'll probably get quite some use out of this, unless it's like the BarryM Dazzle Dust's that literally go everywhere!

Moving on, the next product is the BeeKind Body Lotion, which i'm not that excited about. To me a body lotion is such an obvious option and I think Birchbox could have come up with something a little more exciting. Next up is the Nail Rock Nail Velvet, which i've seen lurking in many Topshop stores but i've always wondered what a velvet manicure would look like so i'm keen to give this a go. The next product is another that I didn't have a clue about, but it is the Twistband which are those hairbands that don't leave your hair with any kinks/creases. I've actually used this a few times and so far i'm quite impressed. The last product is a lovely little perfume sample of the Lipsy London Glam Fragrance which smells really nice! I love perfume samples as you can throw them in your bag for quick refreshes.

So that is this months Birchbox, even though I said I wasn't that impressed I think I was just expecting a little more.. but i'm excited to see what the new year brings!

For a while now i've been wanting to do a weekly roundup sort of post and after seeing this type of post floating around the blogosphere for some time now, I thought around Christmas time would be the perfect time to start this. I will posting every Sunday, rounding up my week and giving you guys a little more insight into my life outside of blogging.

Started wrapping Christmas Presents - I've almost finished all of my Christmas shopping, just a few more bits to get but I wanted to get the majority of the wrapping out of the way. I've gone for a minimal feel with the brown paper, but added some cute detailing with the bows and ribbon.

Celebrated my blog's belated 1st birthday - Yes, I forgot my blog's first birthday on the 13th. I feel like such a bad blogger, but I had a little chocolate to celebrate and I want to thank every single one of you for a great first year in blogging.

Won a giveaway- I was at work when I found out that I had won Emma Louise's Benefit giveaway and it instantly made my day a whole lot better. I cannot wait to try this out!

Finished decorating the house for Christmas - Our Christmas tree has been up for just over a week now, but we've only just finished putting up all the Christmas decorations. I'm really getting excited for Christmas now!

Played around with my new Canon 1100D - I've recently got a new camera and i'm getting to grips with how it works, messing around with it's settings and modes but I took this really cute picture of my cat Annie, which I just had to share with you guys.

Attempted to start my dissertation - Let's just say my dissertation isn't quite where I wanted it to be as I wanted half of it done by Christmas, when I haven't actually started it.. oops.

I just love this time of year, seeing all the pretty Christmas decorations and drinking unlimited amounts of hot chocolate's next to the Christmas tree! I thought i'd share with you guys how i'm getting in the festive spirit and all of the Christmasy details around my house.

As this is the first year in this house I was super excited to decorate our Christmas tree, especially as this year will be the first year that we host Christmas at our house, so I wanted to make it look that little extra Christmasy! I opted for a silver and gold theme for the tree, with the majority of the decorations sticking to this but I love the little touches my mum added to the tree with the cute trinket style decorations and candy canes. I think Christmas is the only time of year that I really get into!

Just keeping this post short and sweet today, but i'll probably share some more details once Christmas day has come.

If you saw my recent beauty purchases post, then you will have seen that I got my hands on the mini Essie Winter 2013 Collection. As it was the last one in my local Boots, I couldn't resist especially as I felt that these three shades would make the perfect Christmas nails this season.

L-R: Shearling Darling, Parka Perfect, Toggle on Top.

This adorable mini set from Essie contains three out the six shades from the Winter 2013 Collection, with a mix of deep reds and pastels to truly compliment the nails this season.

The first in this mini set is Shearling Darling, a beautiful deep wine red shade and what I would describe as the perfect winter red shade. I will for sure be rocking this as much as I can during the colder months. The second shade is Parka Perfect, which is this lovely pastel grey toned blue with a slight added shimmer that makes the perfect winter pastel shade. The last shade in this set is Toggle on Top, which is the prettiest shade in this whole set. The deep red glitter shade just gets me so excited for Christmas and I think i'll definitely be wearing this on Christmas day, so so cute!

This little set cost £12.99, and from what I can tell this is only available in store so if you're looking to get your hands on this, i'd get down to your local Boots sooner rather than later.

I just think this little set is so cute for this time of year and it's the perfect set when it comes to creating Christmasy looking nails without the nail art.

For those of you who aren't aware or haven't heard about Latest in Beauty they are basically another beauty box based website, who provide some truly amazing boxes through collaboration with brands or companies as well as allowing you to create your own beauty boxes from what I can gather. Make sure you check out there website for more details. Anyway, onto the box!

For this box's collab with Glamour, they have joined forces to bring us the ultimate party beauty must haves for the festive season! With products from some truly amazing hyped up brands, all of these products are worth over £60 I believe and this box is priced at £14.95, bargain! Now onto the products in this box.

First up is the Toni & Guy Glamour Firm Hold Hairspray. Now i've never tried a Toni & Guy hairspray but i've heard some really good things about a lot of their products so i'm really excited to try this and it's the perfect size to throw into your clutch bag on a night out. Sticking with hair, the next product in the Phillip Kingsley One More Day Dry Shampoo. Even though a dry shampoo isn't all that exciting, it is a product that I rely on a lot and i've never tried anything from Philip Kingsley so i'm hoping this will impress me. Moving onto makeup now and the next product is a little sample of the Benefit They're Real Mascara, which I love! I've had a few samples of this and i'll always happily welcome more as it means I can prolong splashing out nearly £20 for this mascara, but it is worth it and it works so well to lengthen and lift your lashes. Next up is another product i've never tried but one i've heard great things about and that is the HD Brows Kit. I received the Foxy palette which is the perfect set for me. Every shade is matte, but I could see myself being able to create some really nice eyeshadow looks as well. Now onto skincare and the next product is the Balance Me Radiance Face Oil. Now I have never used a face oil as I fear it will irritate my oily skin, making it worse but i've since found out that oils can actually help to control the amount of oil your skin produces.. I don't know, but i'm intrigued to try this out as I really like Balance Me as a brand. Finally, the last product is the Eyeko Lash Curler. Ever since signing up to beauty boxes by eyelash curler supply has become insane, I must have about five eyelash curlers! Anyway, i've heard some really good things about these and I do have to admit my eyelashes look so much better with some added curl.

After doing a little research it seems that my box is actually missing a product, the Maybelline Baby Lips but i'm not too bothered about that as this box is still pretty amazing without that.

So that is the Latest in Beauty Glamour Beauty Edit Box and what a truly spectacular box it is! If you're looking to get your hands on it, i'd suggest ordering it sooner rather than later!

Todays post is the next and final instalment of my Christmas Gift Guide series. I was going to do a few more, but every blogger out there seems to be doing a very similar thing and i'll only end up repeating what everyone has blogged about but I really wanted to put this one up as a few of these items are so so cute and i'd love to find some of these in my stocking!

First up is this really cute Cath Kiston Makeup Bag. Now if you're a bit of a floral print obsessor and beauty lover like me.. or you know someone like that, then this will make a great little stocking filler. It's super cute and will come in really handy when carrying makeup around on the go. The next product is the This Works Turbo Balm Bauble, which is soooo cute and would work well as a stocking filler or as an added christmas decoration on the tree! Now, this next item I just had to put in this wishlist and that is these ASOS Snow Man Mittens! They are adorable and would make such a cute and fun little touch to any girls stocking this Christmas.

Moving onto some more obvious choices, but ones that some of you maybe might not have thought of. Starting off with some Christmas bits from Lush, the Candy Mountain Bubble Bar is something that will make any bath lovers stocking that little bit more exciting, whilst also making it smell nice. Keeping with the body/bath products, the next stocking filler is the Soap&Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub. I love receiving S&G products at Christmas as they can be a little overpriced and I think this range is perfect for the colder months! Moving back to Lush now and sticking with the Christmas range, the Snow Fairy Box would be perfect for anyone you know who loves the Snow Fairy scent! Last but not least this last product is like a little added extra and that is the Yankee Black Cherry Sampler Candle which I think are so cute and they are a really cute way of sampling the Yankee candles without splashing the cash!

So that is my Christmas gift guide to stocking fillers under £15! I hope you've enjoyed this post and all the previous posts in this series, hopefully next year they will be better!

So i'm back today with the next instalment of my recent purchases series. Recently i've been purchasing quite a few beauty bits, especially as there are so many great offers on at the minute and I thought it would be rude to pass up on these offers!

I'm just going to crack on with the products i've picked up recently, otherwise this will take a while!

Starting off with some skincare bits, which I got my hands during the Selfridges 10% off beauty offer a couple of weekends a go. The first product being the Origins Drink Up 10-Minute Mask, i'd wanted this for ages and with my skin really suffering at the minute it seemed like a good time to purchase it. Next is the Caudalie Gentle Cleansing Milk, again another product i'd been eyeing up and I thought it would be a great gentle cleanser to add in my cleanser rotation.

Moving onto haircare now and these products were on a buy 3for2 offer in Tesco. The first two I picked up were the John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Shampoo & Conditioner, which i'd wanted for a while as I felt my hair was in need of something to tone the colour in between re-dying and so far i'm pretty impressed with these. I also picked up the L'oreal Ever Riche Nourishing & Taming Shampoo, which i'd heard some great things about and as it was on offer I thought i'd give it a whirl.

This next lot of products is kind of a mis mash of everything, I was trying to group products areas together within this post but it just hasn't really worked. First up I finally ordered myself the Real Techniques Starter Set, which contains five eye brushes. This set is currently on offer for like £15 on Amazon, which is a total bargain so if you're wanting it, i'd order it sooner or later. Next up, I finally got myself a bottle of the Bioderma Micelle Solution after trying a mini sample and falling in love with this. I picked this up with 20% from a little website called John Bell & Croyden, which stock some amazing skincare bits so make sure you check them out. Next is another product i've been wanting for ages and that is the Macadamia Healing Oil Spray, which I found reduced in TkMaxx, good old TkMaxx! I just couldn't pass on that. Another product I ordered from John Bell & Croyden when they had their 20% off day and that is the Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm. A product i've heard so much about, apparently it being the saviour for dry lips and with such an amazing offer on I just had to add it to my basket.

Onto the last few bits, which I picked up today in Boots. I was having a little scan at the Essie stand trying to see if they had 'After School Boy Blazer', which they didn't but I noticed they had one of the Essie Winter 2013 Collection Mini Sets left, which is perfect for this time of year and I couldn't leave it on the shelf all on it's own. Also, I noticed that Hydraluron was reduced again which of course made me purchase it, but I have been wanting this for ages now! Annoyingly this morning I ran out of dry shampoo and instead of opting for my usual Batiste, I thought i'd give the new Dove Dry Shampoo a go after reading some pretty good reviews. Lastly I picked up some more Nivea Dry Skin Cleansing Wipes as I ran out during the week and I find these so handy to remove my makeup quickly after a long day when I just want to go to bed.

So that is all of my recent beauty purchases. I know there is a lot of products there, but the majority were on offer and i've worked so hard this month I felt the need to treat myself and my skin!